My Culminating Blog Post

           It is hard to believe that our time abroad is almost coming to a close, it feels like just yesterday we were starting our lectures at the end of August. In reflecting on the performances this quarter, my favorite three would have to be War Horse, Blasted and Departure Lounge. Since I've done my theatrical review on War Horse and my other blog post on Blasted, I've decided on reviewing Departure Lounge here:

           Departure Lounge. I was intrigued when I learned how the set would simply be a group of chairs and a few walls, increasing my curiosity about a play I didn't know much else about. I had arrived to the theatre that night early to write and found it pretty cool how the theatre was located in a dark, somewhat dingy location with the overground roaring overhead (which actually had a positive auditory effect on the play by creating more of an airport atmosphere). The venue itself was small, which made the performance feel more personal for me since everything was in such close proximity (in comparison to, say, War Horse). At the same time I feel like this may have detracted something from the experience for some members of the audience due to height differences resulting in obstructed views. Overall I would have to say the environment was beneficial to my personal experience of the performance.
           The beginning of the play started my views off on the wrong foot, due mostly I'm sure to my unfamiliarity with British humor. Listening to Verity Rushworth's character sing about how she is essentially a slut really threw me off and, coupled with the constant, foul-mouthed, sexual humor of the four friends, made me even more unsure of what to expect. But then once the play began to develop and we were invited to see the different stories of the young men, all of which were connected to Rushworth, I began to become more absorbed. The content only got better as the night progressed.
           But honestly the most effective aspect of this play lied in the music. That they were able to do the entire soundtrack of the play with a couple of guitarists off to the side really inspired me. Getting to witness the sheer musical creativity that could so accurately encapsulate the different moods and moments of the characters helped kick off my own musical creativity once again. And the vocal talents of the actors were STUNNING. I had chills running through me for most of the play and to this day I am still affected, positively, by the musical performances. Even once I was leaving Spain myself for the last time, I found myself singing "And now we've left Spain..." while waiting in the departure lounge. This was a truly fantastic performance brought together intelligently and perfectly with a few chairs, two guitars and the vocal talents of the actors.

           And there we have it: I'm having bittersweet feelings towards the end of this great program, kicking off with the final theatre lecture on Monday. But I am truly glad for being able to have such an enriching experience these past few months and will always remember them. Thank you Dr. Q.

Andrew Zapata